Night had fallen completely. Snowflakes drifted slowly down, blanketing the ground in a thick layer of snow.
A pair of leather boots suddenly stepped onto the snow, appearing so abruptly that they seemed to have materialized out of thin air.
More and more strange figures in cloaks and masks, holding glowing sticks, gathered in the silent wilderness. They huddled together in twos and threes, whispering among themselves, then suddenly fell quiet and moved in unison toward a certain direction, trampling the snow beneath their feet into slush.
A moment later, Voldemort, leading the procession at the front, suddenly stopped and raised a hand to signal the Death Eaters behind him to halt.
The Death Eaters all stopped, staring ahead uneasily and wondering what had happened.
Voldemort looked up toward the Defence Association Headquarters and suddenly said to the Death Eaters behind him, "If we get any closer, we'll trigger the alarm the Mudblood set up."
All the Death Eaters froze and exchanged glances.
If they could not catch their opponents off guard under cover of night, this surprise attack would be meaningless.
"Master, shall we use the backup plan?"
Yaxley stepped behind Voldemort and asked in a low voice.
The backup plan he referred to was, in fact, a direct assault.
"Begin."
Voldemort stared coldly at the village ahead. He had expected tonight would not go too smoothly, but he had never imagined that Mudblood would be so cautious, having long prepared for someone to launch a surprise attack on the village.
The Death Eaters raised their wands and unleashed a barrage of Dark Magic toward the area ahead. A vast blaze of light suddenly erupted in the darkness, followed by a continuous chain of explosions.
The next moment, all the Death Eaters transformed into clouds of black mist and